


How To Build A World

by noodlerdoodler



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Humanstuck, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 21:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5886742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlerdoodler/pseuds/noodlerdoodler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Aradia Megido and you recently escaped from a group of scientists that kept you prisoner. </p>
<p>Your name is Rose Lalonde and you are a Seer with a tendency to help people in need. </p>
<p>Your name is Karkat Vantas and you keep dreaming about some guy you've never met before. </p>
<p>Your name is Eridan Ampora and you haven't been happy since your mother died four years ago. </p>
<p>Your name is Dave Strider and you don't understand why you keep dreaming about some boy from another country. </p>
<p>Your name is Terezi Pyrope and you are a Seer who can't help but keep seeing visions of a certain girl with red hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Build A World

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I've wanted to write since I watched the first season of Heroes about a year ago. I can't promise that it will be great or anything, but I've put a lot of work into it.
> 
> Yes, it's highly likely that I translated some languages wrong and I'm sorry about that. I did the best I could.

Your name is Aradia Megido and you have been locked away for a long time now.

For a while, you tried to keep track of just how long it has been but soon lost track after you fell asleep for the first time. You've grown so used to the routine that you don't understand how time works without it anymore. How are you supposed to know what is what when nobody has come to collect you for breakfast like they usually do?

Normally, the slightly nicer man will come and let you out so that you can eat some breakfast in the mornings. After that is when they do the tests and look you over, taking blood from your arm and peering at lots of clipboards. They won't tell you what they're looking for. You will be locked back in here and left alone until dinner, which you will be brought out for again. Sometimes, the slightly nice man will let you take a bathroom break too. Then, you will be taken to Mr Scratch- who hates you calling him that, so you've decided that it's how you always refer to him- who will make you move things with your mind. More often than not, you won't be able to do it and will end up with a thumping headache. He pretends not to be angry but you can tell that he is really. You aren't good enough for him.

The last time that you left this cell was what you think was yesterday and that was for breakfast. You've been stuck in here ever since, cold and lonely, wondering if you're going to go mad trying to work out how long you've been in here. It's definitely well past breakfast time, which is why your stomach keeps growling at you. You apologise to it but there's really nothing you can do. You've been stuck in this routine for so long that your body has adjusted to the usual timings- it was expecting breakfast hours ago and is confused about where it is.

"I'm sorry." You mumble again, just to hear the sound of your own voice. It's deadly quiet in here today, not even the mouses in the wall are scratching anymore. You feel incredibly alone as you sit on the mattress and pick at the hem of your skirt- it's beginning to unravel from where you've been picking at it anxiously for so long.

You suppose that you should explain a little, since you've got nothing better to do.

As previously mentioned, your name is Aradia Megido. To be exact, it's Aradia Diana Megido, which is important to remember because the "Diana" bit came from your grandmother. You don't want to forget about the world outside, especially about your grandmother, who you loved more than anybody in the whole wide universe. You are eight years old as of a few weeks ago- and especially mature for your age, you think. Back when you attended school, you were always ahead of everybody else. Maybe that's because your mother was never around and you had to turn to books for comfort. You think that's probably the reason.

Ever since you were very small, you've had very limited psionics- this means that you can move things with your mind, though not very easily, and sometimes make things explode. You should clarify that you never meant to make the lightbulbs in your classroom explode that day, you just touched the light switch and some power shot through you and caused them to explode.

A few months ago now, like you said, you accidentally blew up the lightbulbs in your classroom. They shattered. It wasn't the first incident like this but it was the one that tipped your mother over the edge- she had always called you bad luck, ever since you were very small, but this time she had been angry. She had cursed you. She had called you a witch. She had refused to let you out of your room, until Mr Scratch has presumably offered her a large sum of money and paid for you to be brought here. You have been locked up here ever since.

You don't know what Mr Scratch wants with you but he pretends to be nice about it, saying that he wants to help you learn and understand better than you do now. All that he's done is push you to the edge of exhaustion and make you more confused than ever.

_"You have to keep pushing yourself, Miss Megido, or we're never going to get anywhere." He says to you, when you fall to your knees with your head in your hands._

_"I can't do this anymore! It hurts!" You whimper, clutching at your head in fruitless attempts to stop it hurting, "Mr Scratch, it really, really hurts."_

_He just grabs you by the wrist and yanks you back to your feet. "You must keep going. How are you going to get any better if you give up at the first post?"_

_No matter how much you plead, how much you cry, he doesn't give in. He makes you move objects with your mind, sometimes throwing them at you to see if you can hold them in mid air. More often than not, you can't. That's the reason for the scar on you left cheek. A pottery vase that he wanted you to hold up. You couldn't do it._

_By now, you've learnt that sobbing won't work and you know to keep quiet. Now, you hardly say a word except to ask and answer questions. You bite down on your lip when it starts to hurt and keep going, like a robot. Normally, he only relents when you pass out._

You shudder just thinking about it and realise that the bottom of your skirt has turned ragged from you picking at it. But what else are you supposed to think about? You can barely remember life before here, even though it can have only been a few months by your calculations. This is your life now, as much as you hate to admit it to yourself, and you're no where near powerful enough to break out of here on your own.

Now, you just stare around your empty room. There's not much in here: you, your bare mattress without any blankets, a chamber pot that you'd sworn upon arrival that you'd never use (eventually you had to concede), and a single book. It's a children's book, no doubt thrown in here to keep you entertained, but it's written for children much younger and stupider than you. You whipped through it in seconds. Now, you focus your attention on it, relishing the crackling feeling of electricity racing over your skin.

_Move_ , you will it, staring intensely at the book.

It doesn't so much as turn a page, it just lies there, where you threw it in a fit of frustration in the week you got here. You stare harder, narrowing your eyes, trying to force the energy out of you and in the direction of the book.

It's no use, you can't force your powers. They come naturally when you need them but you can't force them to work, not one bit.

You can't do it.

Dejected, you huff and glare at the book. "Why don't you move already?!"

The book flips off the ground as if it had been kicked and hits the wall.

You grin. You did it, you did it, you did it.

Now, breaking open the door. It's a fanciful thought but you like to imagine sometimes, so you reset your gaze on the door instead, specifically on the handle. And you imagine it flying open, imagine it bursting open so you can race to freedom, willing it with all the power you have. You stretch your hand out, fizzling like a plug socket, and demand that it opens.

The door swings open. "Kid?"

A dark-skinned man with startlingly blonde hair sticks his head around the door. He looks old enough to be your brother, like a high-schooler maybe, but he doesn't look anywhere near old enough to work for Mr Scratch. He's also wearing some thick sunglasses and he looks at you, smiling a little.

"Hey there, kid."

You back away. You don't know what he's saying. You have no idea what he's saying.

"Я не понимаю." You tell him, "Вы говорите по-русски?"

He frowns at you. "You don't know English, kid?"

English, he's speaking English. You don't know much but you'll give it your best shot.

"English..." You frown, thinking back to school; the English they taught you was limited, "Hello. My name is Aradia. I am eight years old and I am from... Russia?"

That's all you've got. It seems to be enough.

The man points at himself. "Dave. My name is Dave. You understand? I am your friend."

"Friend?" You don't know what that means, "Help?"

Dave nods and holds out a hand. "C'mon, let's bust you out of here before Doc Douchebag and his minions regain consciousness."

You stand up and approach gingerly.

You take his hand.

**== > Aradia: Meet Rose**

The entire building seems deserted if you don't count the bodies that are littering the corridors- you don't think anybody's been killed (but you aren't sure) but when you come across the crumpled form of Mr Scratch, you spit on him anyway. You normally don't like to harbour grudges against people but he was horrible, horrible, horrible to you. Even though it seems like there's nobody around, Dave still seems in a hurry to get both of you out of here and you struggle to run as fast as him. He's got much longer legs than you.

Eventually, he seems to realise this and stops for a second, asking you something that you don't understand, before picking you up and swinging you onto his back. You have the common sense to cling on, wrapping your arms tightly around him and pressing your face into your back. He's warm and reminds you of your father, who left not too long ago, and that makes you want to cry. You don't because Mr Scratch has taught you not to.

Dave continues towards the exit and you eventually look up from his back, looking around in wonder at the corridor that they dragged you through when you first arrived here. Your brain still can't quite process what's happening, you're a little in shock. You can't believe that this stranger has come to rescue you and you know that you should distrust him but his smile seemed so genuine. Why is he rescuing you? That's what you want to know. How did he even know you were being held here? Mr Scratch said nobody knew you were here.

In the corridor, Dave suddenly halts to a stop, nearly colliding with a girl. You peer over his shoulder curiously, as they start to talk in English again, completely leaving you out of the loop. The girl has to be his sister, if not his twin, because they look very alike. Same dark skin, same blonde hair, same mannerisms when talking. The girl has the same smile and she smiles at you, kindly, and Dave lowers you to the ground. You approach the girl tentatively, staring up at her. Like Dave, she doesn't look old enough. She doesn't look as old as your mom. She looks about as old as your big sister, Damara.

"Aradia, isn't it?" _And she speaks Russian!_

"Yes." You nod, "Can you please explain to me what's going on? I'm so confused."

"Of course but quickly. We need to get going." The girl says, "My name is Rose and you've met my brother, Dave. I understand that you have some... Magical powers?"

"Psionics." You tell her, "They're not very good. Mr Scratch has been keeping me here for a long time to teach me how to use them. I don't like him too much, he's horrible."

"I know." Rose says, "I saw you here. I saw you in some visions. We've come to take you to somewhere much safer than here."

"Can't I just-" No, you can't go home. Your mother was the one that sent you here, your father is gone, and your sister couldn't care less. You don't belong there anymore.

"Take me with you." You say and reattach yourself to Dave's arm, "Please take me with you!"

Rose smiles at you again. "Of course, Aradia, let's get going then."

And she says something to Dave before you continue towards the exit. You're only halfway there when an alarm starts blaring overhead and sends you into a panic. The other two exchange looks and say something, before pushing you in the direction of the door.

"It's open, go!" Rose gestures.

You run.

You don't make it as far as the door- it's nearly within your grasp when you're attacked, one of the guards grabbing hold of you and slamming you against the wall. Pain shoots through your arm, making you yell, as you're held there. Dave and Rose can't help you, they're busy fighting off the rest of the guards. It's up to you, you suppose, and you kick the guard very hard in the place where it hurts to kick the most. But that's only one of the many and soon, you're cornered, pressed into the corner by guards and doctors and people that you've seen before but you didn't know were against you.

"Aradia!" You can hear Dave yelling for you but you can't see him through the crowd; there are too many people between you and the others.

Clenching your hands into fists, you lift your head and glare steadily around. And when the next guard makes a grab for you, you're ready and slam one of your small fists into their stomach. It doesn't do much but it surprises them, causing them to stumble back. And you kick another. And hit another, in the chest this time. And you slam the full weight of your small body against one of them, making him wince a little.

But you're already beginning to hurt and these guys are just getting started.

You remember the book from earlier and close your eyes tightly, focusing not on them but on yourself. You take a few deep breaths, readying yourself, before opening your eyes again. Ready... Set... G-

You're grabbed by the throat and you scream as well as you can, kicking furiously and channelling every single emotion in your body. The familiar feeling of being enveloped in electricity covers you, feeling it wash over your body, and you force it out. You take all the power you have and shove it outwards, yelling because it _hurts_ , and send at least twenty people flying at once.

From up here, you can see Dave fighting others with a sword and Rose with what looks like... Knitting needles. Yes, they're shaped like knitting needles but you suspect that they're some kind of sword. After all, who fights with knitting needles?

You've used all your power up and crumple from where you'd been stuck in the air for a few seconds, stumbling over your own feet as you charge for the door, using your mind to shove away anybody that gets in the way. The door is open and you fling it open, falling headfirst into the snow outside, which makes you shiver. You push yourself up, onto your knees, and crawl forward, determined to get as far away as you can.

Fortunately, your prison seems to be situated on a sort of hill because you don't have to crawl far before you lose your balance and start tumbling down instead. You close your eyes and let the wind take you, rolling over and over and over until you land near the bottom of the hill and lay there.

It's cold... Very cold...

You don't think you fall asleep but you lie there a while, eyes tightly closed as if that would keep everything away, until you hear voices nearby. Instantly, you tense and shiver at the same time, listening for the nasty men that have come to lock you away again. You don't hear them; you hear the quiet voice of Rose and the louder voice of her brother, getting closer and closer.

"Aradia!" You recognise your name, even from Dave's mouth, "Rose, I see her."

You're rolled onto your back and force your eyes open, even though your eyelids feel heavy. You narrow your eyes until you can make out the two faces over head, staring down at you.

"Goddamnit, the kid's gonna freeze to death." Dave picks you up out of the snow, "Rose, take your jacket off."

You're only vaguely aware of the two of them bundling you up in as many warm things as they can find before hurrying you away.

That's the last thing you remember before you really do fall asleep.

**== > Aradia: Wake Up Already**

Everything is fuzzy and warm and comfortable for a while before you remember that you should open your eyes and try to see where you are. You open them and survey your surroundings- you appear to be lying down on some kind of bed. No, not a bed. You realise that it's the backseat of a car, covered in soft blankets to make it feel like a bed. Yawning, you push yourself up into a sitting position and brush the hair out of your mouth.

"Where am I?" You remember that Russian isn't their first language and correct yourself to English, (it's one of the few words you know in English), "Where?"

"Looks like the kid's awake." You hear Dave say to Rose, before turning around from the passenger seat to see you, "'Sup, 'Radia? Thank god you're alive. We thought you'd frozen to death- you looked like a snowman out there."

You blink at him.

"He's glad you're okay." Rose translates for you, "We were worried. Are you cold?"

"No, I'm okay now. Thank you." Somehow, that doesn't seem enough. They have broken you free of the prison that you've been trapped in for what feels like forever and "thank you" just doesn't seem like enough.

"Dave." You lean forward and tug on his arm to get his attention, "Hello."

"Hey, 'Radia."

"Friend?" You attempt to copy his word from earlier.

"Yeah, I'm your friend, 'Radia. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay now." He ruffles your hair.

"Sit in your chair properly now, Aradia." Rose tells you and you do so, "We're going to be going on an airplane. Have you ever been one before?"

"No. I've been on a train." You say, "Are we going to go to the other side of Russia or something?"

That's the only reason you can think to go on an airplane.

"Actually, we're going to America. That's where Dave and I live. I think you'll like it there."

_"America."_ You taste the word in your mouth and decide you like it.

The car stops outside the airport and Rose and Dave each take one of your hands as you head inside. You get the idea that they're still worried about Mr Scratch and his staff catching up to you somehow and you understand why. You squeeze Rose's hand and tell her not to worry, you'll protect her. She just smiles and says that's very brave of you. You tell her that you are incredibly brave and begin babbling about how you were the bravest girl in your village- the only one that loved to pick up frogs and dig for dinosaur bones and talk in the front of the class about anything and everything. Rose smiles wider at you.

Inside the airport, Rose and Dave do all the boring bits with the tickets and things. They've somehow managed to source a passport for you and you know better than to ask where they got it- the people behind the counter peer curiously at you, since you clearly aren't related to the two Americans. You've got dark hair and light skin; they've got light hair and dark skin. Once you've got past all that, Rose takes you into the girls' bathroom and hands you a pile of cleaner clothes. You get to change in the stall, which is more privacy than you're used to by now.

The clothes aren't something you would have picked out yourself but you suppose that they're not bad: a plain shirt, jeans, sneakers. It's only as you're pulling the shirt on that you wince sharply in pain and exhale, remembering how your arm got bent against the wall. It hurts now and you spot a large bruise but you try to put it out of your mind, continuing dressing yourself and reaching the last item in your clothes pile.

You hold it up to inspect it- a dark red hoodie with a bright red symbol in the middle, a symbol that looks like clockwork- and decide that you love it. It's perfect. You pull it on and join Rose back by the sinks. She's reapplying her lipstick.

"Can I have some of that?" You ask, curiously, since Damara always let you.

"When you're older." Rose laughs like soft music, finishes and puts her lipstick away in her bag. And she peers at you, scrutinising you and deciding that you apparently look okay. She fiddles with your hair a little, attempting to tame it, and brushing it over your cheek to hide the scratch there.

"I'm glad you came to rescue me." You tell her.

"I'm glad I came to rescue you too." She says, "I just wish we could have come sooner."

She traces the mark on your cheek as she says this. You stand on tiptoe to look in the mirror and realise that the scar looks red and angry against your pale skin- and it's not the only one. There's a graze on your forehead, luckily hidden by the your hair, and a crescent-shaped cut on your lip. You decide it makes you look tougher. Nobody's going to mess with you now. No scientists, no Mr Scratch, no nothing. Nobody can touch you now.

"Come along, Aradia, we shouldn't keep my brother waiting. He's incredibly impatient, after all."

Dave is waiting outside for you, leaning against the wall and looking bored.

"Can we leave now?" He says.

He's very annoyed when the airplane is delayed and you have to wait even longer but you just find his impatience to be rather amusing. You fill the extra time you've gained with the other two in the cafe, enjoying your first meal in a while, and reading the new book that Rose got you. She bought it in the airport and it has lots of English words to learn, with pictures. Dave and Rose help you say some of the trickier ones.

Dave teaches you what he decides is the most helpful phrase: "Can I have some apple juice?"

It takes you a few times to get right because Dave makes you laugh.

You learn enough English words to be able to ask and answer a handful of questions, which you try out on the man on security. He doesn't seem to find it too annoying but his English isn't as good as yours. You feel triumphant.

On the plane, you are sat in between Rose and Dave and take it in turns to practise speaking with them. They've told you that they have two other siblings, who you'll get to meet, and you want to impress them with how good your English is. You only stop practising when Rose becomes absorbed in a book and Dave falls asleep against the window. You decide that you should get some rest too and settle against him.

**== > Aradia: Meet Roxy And Dirk**

The house you are going to be living in turns out to be really big and you can't help but stare up at it in awe- it's nothing like your old home used to be like and you are considerably impressed. It's a big, whitish house with flowerbeds of dying flowers and polished steps up to the front door, which you jump up.

You knock on the door and it's answered by a boy with sunglasses that are shaped like triangles. You study him for a long moment before deciding this must be the older brother that Rose and Dave told you about. He looks older than them, like the boys that Damara used to bring home with her, and not too different from Dave- like a pointier, sharper, more precise version of Dave, you'd describe him.

"Hello!" You say, brightly.

"Hello." The boy looks surprised to see you but crouches down to your level anyway, not smiling but not looking unhappy either, "You must be the little girl with the psionics that Rose kept seeing in her visions, huh?"

"I'm Aradia." You stick out a hand for him to shake, "I'm from Russia."

"Aradia." He shakes your hand, "It's a pleasure. I'm Dirk Strider."

_"Dirk."_ You like the word, it rolls off your tongue well.

"Yep." He stands up, not smiling but not unhappy either, and turns to call back into the house, "Roxy, you have got to come and see this kid. You are going to love her."

You don't get to introduce yourself to Roxy because she sweeps you up into her arms before you have a chance to, hugging you tightly against her chest as if she's discovered a lost kitten. It makes you smile widely.

This isn't home... But it's close enough.


End file.
